Railway car



G. W. BIRD.

RAILWAY CAR.

APPLICATION FILED ocT.I4. 19'21.

L43@ 1 98. l Patented Nov. M, 1922.,

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RAILWAY cAH. APPLICATION man ocT. 14. 1921. l 1,435, l 98. Patented Nov. M, A922..

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Patented New ld, 1922.

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narrar nari 1K7. OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

RALWAY CAR.

citizen of the United States., residing'at 37 Ruth Street, Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and .State of Pennsylvania,.

have invented a new and useful improve- ,ment in Railway Cars, of which the followin@ is a specification.

ily invention relates to railway-cars.

The object of my invention is to provide a railway-car of such construction that when two or more cars are coupled together, as 'in the case of a trailer7 the cars may be brought so close together that the passengers may pass conveniently and withoutl danger from one car to the other by means of the intervening platforms or vestibules, thereby making it possible to handle with one crew the passengers lin both cars.

A further object of my invention is to provide for enclosing the passage from one car to the other so as to guard against rain and snow, and at the same time providing for the movement of the cars on curves and on grades without interferingin any way with said protecting means.

ln the accompanying drawing Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a portion of two cars einbodying my invention connected together; Fig. 2 is a. plan view of same; Fig. 3 is a plan view showing 'the cars going around a curve; Fig. 1 is a horizontal sectional view; Figs. 5 and 6 are enlarged details of the protecting curtain.

In the accompanying drawings the numeral 2 designates a portion of a railway-car of construction provided at one end with the rounded buffer-sills 3, the end-portion 4 sloping upwardly and inwardly from said sill to the roof 5. By this construction the two cars, when coupled up by a coupler bar 6, may have their sills 3 in very close rela-- tion, in fact, as little as an inch or two 'so that passengers may pass from one car to the other without inconvenience or danger, and by having the inwardly sloping end pon tions the dista-nce between the cars gradually-r,7 increases toward the top se that when the cars reach a dip in the track where one c r is on the ascent and the `other on the decline of said dip there will be sufficient room to allow for the upper ends of the ears to approach each other without interference.

To protect the space between the cars as against the entrance of rain and snow,

the guards 7 are provided which may be formed of canvas orany other suitable mag terial. `Each guard is mounted on a frame comprising the rods 8 and 9 connected hy the cross-rods 10, the cross-rods being hinged as at pllntothe rod 8 secured to theA` car. The uppermost of the connecting rods 10 is provided with the branch portion12, at the inner end of which is mounted the roller 13. il. roller le is mounted at the outer end of said branch and, as illustrated in Fig. 2, under normal conditions the roller 14 engages the curve 15 at thel upper portion of the car. A spring 16 is connected to the uppermost connecting rod 10 and to the car at 17, said sprinou acting to hold the guardframes normally in the position shown in Fig. 2. If, however, the cars are moving around a curve the guard-frames assume the position shown in Fig. 3, the rollers 13 on one side engaging the curved portion of the car while the rollers 14 on that side are out of Contact with the car, and if the cars are in a dip, as above described, and the upper portions 5 to move toward each other it will be apparent that the curtain frames will move in opposite directions or spread apart, so that the rollers 13 will both come .in engagement with the curved portion 15, and when the cars assume a normal position the springs 16 will return the guard frames to their regular positions.

Sliding doors 18 are provided to move back and forth in the frames 19.

A cover is provided for the space between the cars by the employment of the hinged plates 2G, said plates mounted on rods 21 so as -to swing freely thereon, and when two cars are joined together these plates overlap and shed rain, arranged at an angle for this purpose. lt will be appa-rent that when the cars are in a dip the plates move 'one over the other as the upper ends of the cars approach each other, and on the sharpest curve portions of the plates will still overlap each other.

1What l claim is: v

1'. A railway-car having its rear face sloping inwardly from the buffer-sill to the roof.

2. A railway car having its rear face4 sloping inwardly from the buffer sill. to the roof, and a single swinging fra-me at the end thereof, said frame tapering from the top to the bottom, and a shield -or cover carried by said frame.

3. ln a railway-car, the combination of single swinging frames mounted at the ends thereof'7 sliields1 or coverings' for said frames, and springs connected to said frames and to the ear for holding said 'frames normall),7 in parallel relation wherebysaid shieldsV are adapted to close the space between adjoining ears.

4. In a railway-car, the combination of swinging frames mountedK at the end thereof, normally held in parallel relation to each other, shields` or coverings for said fra-mes,

and rollers: et thel upper ends yof said framesl adapted' tol enga-ge the Curvedv end pol-'tion of' swinging end-` frames' mounted at the end l5 thereof normally heldv in parallel relation to eaeh other7 a shield or covering` for said frames, a branch at the upper end oit' each saidv frame carrying a roller at earl; end thereof adapted to engage the curved end portions of the adjoining oar. t

V(Si ln a railway-car, an upwardly inclined swinging cover piece mounted at the end thereof,l projecting beyond the rool ofthe piece lininelined position.

GEORGE WV. BIRD. 

